The Fosters 4×12 – Dream A Little Dream – Recap

In last week’s episode, Jesus was put into a medically induced coma to let the swelling in his brain go down. Naturally, The Fosters 4×12 features him skateboarding around a Wacky Dreamscape™ in his hospital gown while Stef and Lena sit by his bedside and the rest of their unruly brood continue to wreak various types of havoc. Read on for our recap of The Fosters 4×12, “Dream A Little Dream.”

Hashtag LAAAME

So remember when Jude was a nice kid? Honestly, those days are getting progressively harder for me to recall as I watch him freak out Mariana by wondering aloud about whether Nick’s hiding in the Foster house again. He also utters the phrase “Hashtag ‘none of your business,'” and is seemingly unaware that it’s hashtag “lame” to say “hashtag” out loud.

Meanwhile, Troy shows up at the police station to give his side of the car accident story. He and Callie give conflicting statements that blame each other for the crash, but Troy has one big advantage: There’s a lawyer by his side. Callie, on the other hand, in the interrogation room alone. Of course, it doesn’t help that the nefarious Detective Gray is biased against Callie, and his negative attitude rubs off on his colleague, Det. Bruckner.

Det. Bruckner: “Would you say this was your fault? Getting in his car?”Callie: “Yeah, it was my fault.”

Hashtag “facepalm.”

“Some mistakes you can’t take back”

As the night wears on, Mike tries to get in touch with Stef about Callie, but she’s too distracted by Jesus’ condition to notice her phone. Back at home, Mariana sneaks out of the house to talk with Mat in the garage. If you’ll recall from last week’s episode, Mat just found out that she kept in touch with Nick, and in The Fosters 4×12, he wants answers. Mariana explains that she allowed Nick to think they were still together because he threatened to kill himself if she left him. She admits she’s terrified – both of Nick, and of losing Mat. Mat reassures her that he still loves her, and they have awkward garage sex that still doesn’t manage to exceed the weirdness of last week’s Brandon/Cortney mess.

Credit: thefostersseries @ Tumblr

Speaking of messes, Callie is in a hell of one, even by her standards. Bruckner tells her she can leave as soon as she signs her official statement – and she does so without even reading it. Callie, really? Your mom is literally a cop.

At home, Brandon is actually being the smart one for once, calling out Jude for his hijinks in the previous episode, which included trespassing and smoking weed. “Don’t be an idiot,” he advises his younger brother. “Some mistakes you can’t take back.” …Like, oh, I don’t know, taking the SAT for someone else, Brandon? Honestly, though, he’s killing it in this scene of The Fosters 4×12 – especially when he asks, “Hey, what happened to that nice kid who came to live with us? I miss him.” Um, I was just saying this, Brandon, get out of my head.

Meanwhile, Brandon’s other younger brother is still skateboarding around Dreamscape World. Jesus flashes back to the events of the season 4 premiere and encounters Nick in a Santa suit (ohhh, St. Nick, I get it). He also crosses paths with both the child and teen versions of Mariana, the latter of whom gets shot.

Deja juvie

Stef finally looks at her phone and gets to the precinct as quickly as she can, but – surprise! – Bruckner lied, and Callie’s not actually heading home. Instead, she’s under arrest for vehicular assault and felony hit and run, and Bruckner’s taking her to juvie. Stef immediately reads the situation for what it is and asks Bruckner, “How long have you been Gray’s bitch?” Damn, Mama Bear just extended her claws.

That said, Bruckner’s no pushover, so all Stef can do is hurriedly whisper some advice and soothing words before Callie’s led away in handcuffs. She’s booked, fingerprinted, photographed, and strip-searched, and she also has to fill out a Prison Rape Elimination Act questionnaire, which seems like a good idea in theory (its goal is to “support the elimination, reduction, and prevention of sexual abuse and sexual harassment within corrections systems,” according to the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence), but must be awfully triggering for a girl like Callie who has to check “Yes” in response to the “Have you ever been raped?” question.

Credit: thefostersseries @ Tumblr

Back at the hospital, Lena dissolves into tears after Stef calls to update her on Callie. To recap, one of their kids is in juvie, one is in a coma, and one committed academic fraud – although Stef doesn’t know about Brandon yet. It’s a lot for any mother to deal with, but thankfully Lena’s comforted by another mother who’s holding an all-night vigil for her daughter. The woman says it sounds like she’s raising kind kids, and tells her she shouldn’t be so hard on herself. After all, “kind kids turn into kind adults, and God knows this world could use a lot more of them.” Amen to that. She also tells Lena, “We can handle anything in the moment – it’s our fear of what might happen that undoes us.” Damn, she’s a regular oracle.

As if on cue, a nurse comes to deliver the news that the swelling in Jesus’ brain is finally going down! However, that doesn’t mean his crazy dreams have stopped. Back in Dreamland, he’s at Teen Mariana’s funeral, and his moms are saying they wish it were him in the casket instead. Mariana in a casket is a horrifying sight, even if it’s just in a dream sequence, but you know what isn’t horrifying? This adorable behind-the-scenes photo of Cierra Ramirez:

Credit: Freeform/Tony Rivetti

The following morning, Mike breaks the news about Callie to Mariana, Brandon, and Jude, while Stef and Lena speak with Jesus’ doctor at the hospital. Jesus is breathing on his own, which is great, but he’s running a fever, which isn’t so great. Although the stress is wearing Stef down, she puts on a brave face for the kids, who are worried about both Jesus and Callie. When Mariana asks why Callie was in Troy’s car in the first place, there’s a long pause before Stef reveals she was looking for Mariana.

All kinds of messed up

In the previous episode, Emma blamed Mariana for Jesus’ condition, and in The Fosters 4×12, Mariana tells Emma she was right. Nick was just a hallucination, and if Mariana hadn’t been taking Jesus’ pills, none of this would’ve happened. “I was so messed up… I’m still so messed up,” Mariana says helplessly, and Emma rubs her back reassuringly. If what Brandon sees when he sneaks off to call Juilliard is any indication, though, Emma has problems of her own. Specifically, she’s buying a pregnancy test – but, as usual with The Fosters, things aren’t what they seem. When she returns to the waiting room, Emma passes the test to Mariana.

In the Upside-Down, Child Mariana appears and says Jesus was supposed to protect her. “I tried,” he protests – and then a street clothes-wearing version of himself punches the hospital gown-wearing version. This really is the second coming of Jesus, people. While Child Mariana beckons him in one direction, the voices of his moms call him in another, and he finally opens his eyes. Stef and Lena rejoice, but there’s a complication – Jesus is experiencing dysphasia, or garbled speech.

As the doctors check out Jesus, Lena goes to talk to the husband of the woman nextdoor. She asks if his mother-in-law is around, and he tells her that his wife’s mother passed away a few years earlier. Well, that explains all the oracle talk. Sounds like The Fosters 4×12 was touched by an angel.

Lena barely has time to process all this before Stef kisses her goodbye and heads to Callie’s hearing, with the hope that Callie will be able to return home while awaiting trial. However, as per usual in The Fosters, things don’t go according to plan. The judge orders that Callie await her next hearing in juvie, and the opposing counsel requests that she be tried as an adult. Suddenly those drugs Callie’s juvie bunkmate offered her earlier in the episode seem a lot more tempting…

About Nicola

A Pop City Life contributor since 2014, Nicola holds a degree in print and multimedia journalism from Emerson College. Raised in the UK, she has since lived in Philadelphia and Manhattan, and currently resides in Boston. She's a big fan of the Cheshire Cat.